To keep track what I have been up to and my thoughts on issues important to me.

Monday, January 16, 2012

pickled eggplant

We received an eggplant in our Bountiful Basket. I am not a fan of eggplant in of itself. However, when Angelo's Italian Restaurant was open they had a Chicken Parm Salad on the menu that had pickled eggplant as one of the trimmings. The pickled eggplant was very good, so I've been looking for a recipe for pickled eggplant that tasted as good as Angelo's. I think I have found it! Theresa's Pickled Eggplant from BonTonAnon's you-tube channel. You should watch the you-tube video of this little old Italian grandma make it! Here is a transcript of the information in the video.

Chop garlic, peel eggplant. To slice eggplant cut the top off and slice length wise 1/4 inch slices then slice bottom part in 1/4 rounds. Salt eggplant in layers. After salting thoroughly, let the eggplant stand for 4 hours: turn over mixture by hand at least every hour. Boil together for 10 minutes in a covered pan the white vinegar, water, and sugar. Do not reuse this solution make fresh for each full recipe. Drain the eggplant rinse 3 times squeeze out most of the water after the third rinse by picking up 5 or 6 slice and squeezing them between your palms. Place in colander until all are drained and squeezed. Pour drained eggplant in vinegar solution. DO NOT boil for more than 2 and 1/2 minutes. After boiling the eggplant in the vinegar solution place in the colander to drain, but do not squeeze this time. Working quickly pour some olive oil in bottom of jar, add some garlic, hot pepper flakes and oregano. Place 3-4 slices of eggplant in the jars then layer on the oil, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and eggplant until the jar is with in a 1/2 inch of top make sure the eggplant is under the oil. Four eggplants will yield about 4 pint. Let stand for a couple of days before eating. This is an open kettle method.

Because I had only one eggplant and I want the portions of garlic, pepper flakes, and oregano a little better spelled out. I keep looking and I found this recipe: Nonna’s Pickled Eggplant from flavorsofitaly's blog. Directions were pretty much the same but for a smaller quantity and the spices were spelled out. The only difference was this recipe said you could store the pickled eggplant in the fridge for two weeks.

So here is what I did. I cut my eggplant into sticks like French-fries because that is the way Angelo's served it. I did the 4-hour stand with the salt, then the 3 rinses. I decided I wanted the pickling solution from Theresa's recipe but I cut it in half. A two to one ratio in favor of the vinegar meant that the pH was lower for safer storage. Then I used the spicing amounts in Nonna's recipe except I thought 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes was too much so I cut that back to 1/2 teaspoon. It is very mild and a full teaspoon wouldn't be too much. I also tossed the drained pickled eggplant with the herbs and garlic before putting everything in the jar that had a layer of olive oil in it. It yielded about 3 cups of pickled eggplant and I set mine in the fridge for several days before trying it tonight in a salad with our spaghetti and meat sauce.

If I were going to can some for my pantry, I would use dried herbs, as there have been reports of fresh herbs and botulism. The other thing I would do is water-bath can for about 10 minutes from what I saw in several other recipes, instead of using the open kettle method. But to each their own.